De Bartoli 2023 Zibibbo Terre Siciliane Bianco Integer (Arrives 10/14)

60 year old Zibibbo vines from organically farmed estate vines in the contrada of Bukurram on the island of Pantelleria (about 200 km. southwest of the Sicilian mainland, closer to Tunisia). The vines are bush-trained and grown on north-facing terraces of sandy, pebbly, poor, black volcanic soils. The selection of bunches is quite strict. A small portion of the berries are gently pressed and go into old oak barrels for a spontaneous fermentation, no sulfur and no temperature control and a 10-day maceration. That small segment of wine is aged for a year in barrel. But the main part of destemmed berries goes into clay amphorae. Here, the maceration is several months; the wine is racked off of the skins and continues aging in amphorae. The two wines are blended, bottled unfined and unfiltered and classified as IGT Terre Siciliane. "Integer" means "whole" and is  the root word of "integrity"--the Integer bottlings are so named to represent the De Bartolis' intention to express the fullest, most pure potential of native Sicilian white varieties vinified in the most traditional, low-tech way. -Bowler Wine

This Zibibbo, also known as Moscato di Alexandria, is not the floral bomb you might expect. The volcanic terroir, and anfora aging makes a more restrained, pithy, and herbal expression. Deep golden hue. -ML